THE TEMPLE FOR WOMEN INITIATES: AN ALTERNATIVE RELIGIOUS
AND CULTURAL INSTITUTION
Fatou K. CAMARA, Ph.D in Law,
Associate Law professor, University Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar (SENEGAL),
http//fsjp.ucad.sn
« We can do something other than look to Saudi Arabia or the West, we can look to the
interior of Africa, its culture, its spirituality » SEMBENE
ABSTRACT
The project of the Temple for Women Initiates (TWI) is an initiative of
the women of the village of Baback Sereres, who have been assisted by the
researcher, Issa Laye Thiaw (author of La femme seereer, L’Harmattan, Paris
2005), a native of the village. The idea of the creation of a TWI stems from
the realization that ancestral practices do not inspire the local population as
they used to in the past. That makes it necessary to create new
infrastructures able to fulfil the requirements of modern times ; because the
revitalization of black African culture, and its spiritual foundation, is the
best way to circumvent religious fundamentalisms, and to strengthen a
feminist message all the more effective because tightly wrapped in traditional
clothing. The matriarchal nature of Seereer culture makes it possible to
engage in culturally meaningful discourses and actions promoting human
rights, and most specifically women’s and children’s rights, as well as
concern for the environment.
The purpose of this article is to describe this project of a Temple for
Women Initiates; a project carried by a whole village, men and women alike,
regardless of religious affiliation (the village is composed of Catholics,
Muslims and followers of the indigenous faith). The first part will focus on
the content of the indigenous faith and the matriarchal system that the
initiated women represent. The second part will be used to explain the
objectives, the context and the stakes of the construction of such a Temple.
Key words:
Ancestors, Animism, Culture, God, Spirits, Indigenous, Maat, Matriarchal,
Woman.
The Temple for Women Initiates’ project –F. K. Camara
2
***
INTRODUCTION
The young people of the village of Baback Sereres held a meeting,
October 15, 2007, to discuss the project of a Temple for Women Initiates. In
a letter summarizing the views expressed in that meeting, they wrote the
following in support of the project:
“Culture, which can be defined as the ways of doing things, the
way of life, the beliefs, in short the ways in which a group sees the
world, occupies a major place in the life of people. However the
phenomena
of
Westernization,
combined
with
the
attempts
at
Islamization, have caused the negation of the existence of Black-African
cultures. Without culture it is impossible to reach development.”1
Modernists consider indigenous culture and anything related to it as
something of the past, something that is furthermore totally irrelevant in
today’s world. On the other hand, Muslim and Christian religious leaders are
keen to dismiss indigenous sacred rituals as satanic or pagan practices. But
in spite of these concerted efforts to erase indigenous faith (usually called
animism) from the minds of Senegalese men and women, it is still there.
Officially Senegal is a country where 94% of the people are Muslim,2 but
those statistics overlook the fact that the majority of people continue to
believe in the taboos and prohibitions established by their ancestral preIslamic and pre-Christian faith. Senegal’s first President, famed poet L. S.
Senghor, who was a Catholic raised by missionaries and who belonged to the
Seereer ethnic group3, wrote the following:
« If today a Muslim Head of State consults the “sacred wood,” offers
in sacrifice an ox or a bull, I have seen a Christian woman, a practising
medical doctor, consult the Sereer “Pangool” (the snakes of the sacred
See the full letter at the end of the paper, annexe 1.
94%, indigenous beliefs 1%, Christian 5% (mostly Roman Catholic) CIA – The world
Factbook
–
Senegal
(March
2008).
Retrieved
1st
March
2008
from
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/CIA_World_Fact_Book,_2004/Senegal
3 Ethnic groups in Senegal are as follows: Wolof 43.3%, Pulaar 23.8%, Seereer 14.7%, Joola
3.7%, Mandinka 3%, Soninke 1.1%, European and Lebanese 1%, other 9.4%. CIA – The
world Factbook – Senegal (March
2008).
Retrieved 1st March
2008 from
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/CIA_World_Fact_Book,_2004/Senegal
1
2Muslim
The Temple for Women Initiates’ project –F. K. Camara
3
wood). In truth, everywhere in Black Africa, the “revealed religions” are
rooted in the animism which still inspires poets and artists, I am well
placed to know it and to say it….”4
Animism is based on the belief that everything that exists has a life of its
own, and the ability to feel and suffer like you and me. Animals, plants, soil,
"inanimate objects" feel. We must therefore respect and love all those with
whom we share the earth. The following examples were given me by Issa
Laye Thiaw5:
“-When you eat under a tree you want to give it its share, which you
deposit at the foot of the tree.
- After a busy morning of toil, when the farmer sits in the shade, he
must also put his hoe in the shade and not let it lie in the sun. If he
forgets to do that he will be reminded with these words (he told me in
Wolof because I don’t understand Seereer): "Da fa am bàkkan ni yow."
(‘It has life – the ability to feel- just like you”)
- When the hoe falls from your hands, we say: “Do not pick it up
immediately. It is tired. Let it rest.” "
Issa Laye Thiaw is the son of a high priest of the indigenous faith, he is
also from an ethnic group, Seereer, with a long-standing tradition of resisting
conversion to Islam and the Christian faith. He made the following
statement6:
« Si aujourd’hui tel chef d’Etat musulman consulte le « bois sacré », offre en sacrifice un bœuf
ou un taureau, j’ai vu telle chrétienne, docteur en médecine et pratiquante, aller consulter les
« Pangool » (les serpents du bois sacré) sereer. En vérité, partout en Afrique noire, les « religions
révélées » sont enracinées dans l’animisme qui inspire encore aujourd’hui, poètes et artistes, je
suis bien placé pour le savoir et le dire…. » Preface, Les Africains, Pierre Alexandre, Lidis,
Paris, 1982, p. 6
5 Conversation on animism at my home, Dakar, March 26, 2008. From childhood Issa Laye
Thiaw was instructed in black African values and the secrets of the initiates through his
father who was a High Priest of the indigenous faith. He then trained at the École FrancoArabe of Dakar, at the Ecole Normale of Tunis, at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes of la
Sorbonne, Paris. He was Senior researcher at the Centre d’études des civilisations, Dakar.
He is a retired teacher of classical Arabic. He spent many years in the Arab and Islamic
countries where he studied the Muslim religion. He is the author of La femme Seereer,
(L'Harmattan, Paris 2005, p. 282).
6 Conversation on animism at my home, Dakar, March 26, 2008.
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The Temple for Women Initiates’ project –F. K. Camara
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“Since Islamization and Christianization, Africans do not respect
nature. Conversion starts with a change of mindsets and as soon as that
happens any further change is accepted. Each religion has plundered
the tradition of its community of birth. Where Islam was born women
had little if any rights, Islam has led us to the marginalization and
inferiority of women.”
As a matter of fact, in Senegal, Islam in particular, has been officially
used as a way to deny women equal rights (Camara, 2007).
Fortunately, the matriarchal nature of Seereer culture makes it possible
to engage into culturally meaningful discourses and actions promoting
human, and most specifically, women rights. Indeed, Seereer cultural values
preach gender equity, respect for the environment, education of all children
in the values of self-respect, respect for others and care for the community’s
interests. Hence, the temple will be established as a place where these
ancient principles will be taught. It will be a temple of learning as well as a
cultural centre open to visitors and researchers, because the revitalization of
black African culture, moral values and spiritual foundation, is the best way
to circumvent religious fundamentalisms in Africa. Consequently the TWI
will be a shelter for indigenous African culture, and the promotion of its
matriarchal values through the Temple will help strengthen a feminist
message all the more effective because tightly wrapped in traditional
clothing.
The popular songs, the folk tales, the legends, the ancestral faith are the
elements that constitute the base of Seereer culture and traditional values.
All these elements have the women as their principal agents. In the tradition
of the Seereer, as is the case of many black African communities, women are
the guardians of ancestral knowledge, and have the responsibility of
transmitting it from generation to generation. Traditional knowledge forms
an integral part of the education, the well-being and the thriving of families
and the community, particularly in rural areas. Building a temple to the
initiated women will serve as a way to ensure a larger respect for, and a
greater protection of, this knowledge and its holders.
The Temple for Women Initiates’ project –F. K. Camara
5
The first part of the paper will focus on the content of the indigenous
faith and the matriarchal system that the women initiates represent. The
second part will be used to explain the objectives, the context, and the
stakes of the construction of a Temple for the women initiates.
***
I. Insights on the Indigenous African Faith and Initiation’s Knowledge
Initiation as a way of imparting important knowledge is one prominent
trait
of
indigenous
African
culture.
Matriarchy
is
another
cultural
characteristic of ancient Africa. It was at the roots of the socio-political
system, it ruled the economy, the family, and it also shaped Africans’
religious beliefs prior to the introduction of Islam and the Christian faith on
the continent.
1.1. Matriarchy and the feminisation of spirituality
Matriarchy does not mean dictatorship of women over men. It is a
system where women are valued for their practical experience, their spiritual
knowledge, and their body’s sole ability to host and give birth to life, and
then produce life sustaining nourishment (milk). Amateurs of African art are
quite familiar with sculptures portraying a black woman, totally naked or
bare breasted, holding on her knees a suckling infant (in Ancient Egypt’s art
that image is famous as Isis and infant son Horus) 7. That was just one way
among many others to express love for femininity.
1. 1.1. The Meaning of Matriarchy: “Mother Power”
The term “matriarchy” is composed of the Latin word mater (meaning
“mother”) and of the Greek suffix arkhè (which means “power”). Thus, mater
arkhè means literally “Mother power”. Accordingly, a matriarchal society is a
The place of women in African traditional religion and in Ancient Africa’s religious art is
particularly well documented in these papers which titles say it all: “Egypt’s Isis : The
Original Black Madonna” by Eloise McKinney-Johnson ; “African Goddesses : Mothers of
civilization” by Runoko Rashidi, “The image of woman in African cave art” by Rosalind
Jeffries, “Black Madonnas of Europe : diffusion of the African Isis” by Danita Reed. All four
papers are published in Black women in Antiquity, edited by Ivan Van Sertima, Transaction
publishers 2002.
7
The Temple for Women Initiates’ project –F. K. Camara
society
where
the
maternal
values
of
caring,
courage,
6
compassion,
nurturance, well-being, and fertility (prosperity) are predominant. In
matriarchal societies, woman is the seat of power, the provider of riches, the
giver of life, the healer, the embodiment of justice (the goddess Maât in
Egypt, the sacred principle of Truth and Fairness). Historical evidence proves
that empowering women, as was the case in ancient Egypt, ancient Nubia
and in other African empires (Ghana, Mali, Jolof, Kongo) never meant the
cruel rule of women over victimized men. Therefore, matriarchy is not the
opposite of patriarchy, in terms of it being a system where one gender (here
the female one) oppresses the other.
Matriarchy stems from respect shown to the female half of the human
species due mainly to their knowledge of plants (medicinal or poisonous),
and to the dominant part they played in agriculture. Women were the ones
who were entrusted with seed selection, the actual planting of crops and
then processing raw material into edible food; men would help at clearing a
field and then at harvest (Ki Zerbo, 2003, p. 121). Matriarchy is therefore a
tribute to the capacity of women to ensure food security and proper health
care for people. Whereas the patriarchal regime has its origin in harsh
nomadic life where women’s economic contribution is fairly inexistent, the
matriarchal regime is tied to agricultural and sedentary life (C. A. Diop,
1996,
130).
In
his
paper
« Rural
women
in
the
socio-political
transformations », Gidbon Mutiso from Kenya supports that thesis by
outlining the weight put on woman’s spiritual knowledge (while patriarchy
embodies the supremacy of pure brutal strength):
“There is enough oral history from the old people to suggest that
the agriculturalist peoples who migrated from area to area gave women
extremely significant places in the rituals connected with the settling of
new areas. The woman was the one to appease the Gods so as to seek
favour for the productivity of the new area. By extension following this
line of logic, one can hypothesise that since women were the
intermediaries with the Gods and furthermore since self-sufficiency in
crops was necessary, it is possible that they utilised this structural
The Temple for Women Initiates’ project –F. K. Camara
7
position to acquire more socio-political rights (and duties) than has been
suggested by colonialism research.” (Mutiso, 1975, p. 528)
Sacred myths and legends emphasize, and keep in everyone’s mind, the
pre-eminence of women.
1.1.2. The Feminisation of Spirituality
God is a Mother, the First Man is a Woman and so are the Land’s Main
Guardian Spirits.
1.1.2.1. God is a Mother
“In the beginning was Mother” (Mutiso, 1975, 527).
Indigenous African theology relies on the mother figure to convey the
idea of Creation and of the parentage of all God’s creatures. God is the One
who gave birth to Earth, Moon and Sky. In Ancient Egypt theology Nuut is
the Universal Mother who swallows the Sun each night and give birth to it
each morning. Nuut is the Primordial Mother, She gave birth to the first
human couples who acquired godlike status as the First Ancestors (Isis,
Osiris, Nephtys and Seth).
For Babacar Sédikh Diouf, a Seereer who
specialised in researching data linking the Seereer ethnic group to the
ancient Egyptians8, the strategy used by the woman to impose herself
appears clearly: imaginations had to be struck. And that is why in Egyptian
antiquity, the goddess NT (NuuT) was given the title of “Mother of the
Universe” while, Roog, the name which Seereer gives to God reveals itself as
meaning “Blessed Virgin”, for the etymology of “Roog” is “Toog” (the virgin).
(B. S. Diouf, Master 2006/2007). This femininity of God is confirmed in the
everyday language when the Seereer say speaking about men: « Nqoox Paal,
Yaay um Roog ” (“The black bull’s mother (is) God”). In order to tighten his
demonstration that for the Seereer “Roog is a She”9, B. S. Diouf gives as
further proof the following prayer little boys murmur when they go to bed at
night (B. S. Diouf, 2004, 210-211):
Cheikh Anta Diop has established facts that confirm his thesis that Seereer originate from
ancient Egypt (1979, pp. 392-401).
9
Seereer as many African languages does not have gender indicators such as “he, she, her, his”.
8
The Temple for Women Initiates’ project –F. K. Camara
Danaas
I am going into sleep
Nqoox paal
(me) black bull
Yaay um Roog
My mother is Roog
Daapaam lanq
Earth is my bed
Hakandu bil
Roc is my pillow
Hulwa Roog
Sky is my blanket
Dingoor juwaam
Ocean is my fence
Wegoor njelem
Strong iron is my door
8
Sacred myths play an important part in conveying the values of the
people who created the myths. Accordingly African myths convey respect for
women and their role in society. A colloquium on “The civilization of the
woman in African tradition” was organized, from July 3 to 8, 1972, by the
Society of African Culture under the patronage of the government of the
republic of Ivory Coast. In its conclusions, the following summary was made
of the place of women in ancient African myths:
“According to ancient myths, the creation of the woman is linked to
the origin of death. It is when death appeared in the world that God
created woman so that life would not die for ever. Since this time, says
the legend, men die but life still goes on. The African woman appears as
the giver of life, the saviour, the nurse, and she alone gives mankind its
possibility to survive in history.” (Société africaine de culture, 1975, p.
597)
In the religion of the Mother God, women are not stigmatised through an
emblematic Fallen Woman who is the cause of all evil (the Judeo-Christian
Eve). Furthermore, the African faith unashamedly uses the sexual organs of
the human body to celebrate, emphasize, and explain different aspects of
theology. Indigenous African faith spirituality does not separate the body
from the soul, nor does it set one higher than the other. The human body is
revered as a temple: it hosts a parcel of the divine and as such one has a
duty to keep it clean, beautiful (with ornaments, ointments, tattoos) and
healthy. A healthy body hosts a healthy soul and vice versa. That is why a
The Temple for Women Initiates’ project –F. K. Camara
9
sickness is always seen as a sign of something being wrong in the realm of
the spirits. Traditional healers cannot conceive limiting their treatment to the
body, the soul also has to be cured of what ails it. Even after death the body
has to be treated with love and care, cremation is not documented as an
indigenous African practice. Love and respect for the body also explains the
fact that total or partial nudity was accepted in many African communities,
up until colonisation, Christian missionaries and Muslim religious leaders
put an end to it. They brought in Africa the ideology of the sinful body and of
the sinful women who lead men to their ruin, if they are not put under tight
male control.
The patriarchal tales of Genesis are the total opposite of the African
ones. African sacred stories do not bring the woman out of any man’s or
god’s body part, be it its head (like the Greek Goddess Athena)10 or its ribs
(like the Biblical Eve, created for and named by Adam). In the African
Creation stories man and woman are created by the Primordial Mother. They
are the First Twins, hence the special status of twins and of twin’s mothers
in many black African communities. The ancient Egyptian genesis even goes
as far as to state that man was created for woman, and for love:
“In a papyrus dating from the time of the Ramesside dynasty (1312th century BC) God proclaims: ‘I am the one who has made the
primeval waters in order for the Celestial Cow to come into existence. I
am the one who has made the Bull for the Cow in order for the joy of
love to come into the world.” (Al Assiouty, 1989, p. 239-240).
God is a female entity, and so is the earth that the Seereer call Adna
Kumba Njaay: Adna means earth in a global sense, Kumba is a very popular
female name in Senegal, and Njaay is one of the most common Senegalese
surname (in Senegal the name Kumba Njaay is, respectively, the equivalent
of Mary Smith in Great Britain). All the guardian spirits of Wolof and Seereer
Greek mythology describes the Goddess Athena as being the daughter of Zeus, and only
by him, Athena was not generated by any woman. She leaped from the head of Zeus, already
adult, dressed with her armor.
10
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10
territories are also female11. Most of them live in rivers. By giving the earth
the gender of a female spirit, and by housing in rivers the communities’
guardian spirits, the two most important elements in agrarian societies,
water and earth, are explicitly entrusted to the care of women. That explains
the predominant place of women in the indigenous faith’s “clergy”. They
usually perform the most important rituals and prayers for prosperity,
fertility and protection from disasters. “Mixed types of cult exist, but there
are some essentially female cults. The woman presides over fetish convents,
initiation rites, agricultural rites for fertility. She orders the moon, the sun
and the rain.” (Société africaine de culture, 1975, p. 597). Animism is based
on the belief that all God’s creatures, including the cosmic forces are
interrelated, hence the mutual influences. The role of the Initiates of the
highest level was to control the cosmic forces so as to keep Earth and Sky in
order and harmony, for animism did not blame God for natural disasters but
human actions. God is given credit for the Creation but keeping it in Order
and Harmony is up to the human beings and their ancestors.
1.2. Animism: An open, life loving, nature friendly monotheism
Whatever the name it is given (voodoo, fetishism, animism), the
indigenous African faith, as illustrated by the ancient Egyptians’ faith, is a
true monotheism, because it is founded on the belief of a One God Creator
(Obenga, 2004, pp. 60-73; Thiaw, 1992, pp. 59-68; B. S. Diouf, 2004, 205221). However, the belief in one God Creator does not entail an interdiction
to give prayers and offerings to the spirits of one’s ancestors and to the
guardian spirits of the land.
1.1.2. An open monotheism: God leaves us free to address our prayers
to whoever we want
While God’s uniqueness is unquestioned, its remoteness from humans
is strongly outlined. The Cosmic Mother exists somewhere far above and out
The female spirits who are the original owners of the land (and therefore its guardians to
whom offerings and respect are due) are Kumba Bang in the city of Saint-Louis, Kumba
Cupaam in the costal town of Popenguine, Kumba Kastel in Gorée island, Kumba Làmmb in
Dakar (the capital city also has a male guardian spirit Lëk Daawur), Maam Njare (“grandmother” Njare) in the town of Rufisque.
11
The Temple for Women Initiates’ project –F. K. Camara
11
of reach of human beings. One does not address prayers directly to Her, as
She is too high above to get involved in humans’ concerns. God does not
speak, nor does She give directions or commands to any human being. She
does not preside over a Tribunal for the dead, and She is neither a judge nor
a mediator. She does not mete out punishment or give reward according to
one’s behaviour. She does not get jealous, angry, happy or judgemental.
Most of all, She does not need prayers or offerings. Therefore the indigenous
faith followers’ true guides and protectors are the spirits of the land, and the
spirits of their ancestors. Those spirits will protect whoever shows them
attention and respect. They will punish you if you antagonise them. They will
take care of you if you take care of them. And once you die, if you have been
a good person you will live on as a Blessed spirit among the other Blessed
spirits. When a bad person dies, he/she lives on as a mean spirit. In all
cases one has to be mindful of good and bad spirits. However, spirits being
essentially invisible to the naked eye, it takes a special kind of initiatory
knowledge to be able to locate them and interact with them. But as they are
potentially everywhere it is best to treat everyone and everything with
respect. This is particularly illustrated in old fairytales which tell the stories
of discarded objects, powerless looking people, or apparently harmless
animals who are in truth powerful spirits in disguise out to test human
kindness, honesty or prudence. So one is trained from a very early age not to
judge a book by its cover and consequently to offer to the poor old hag as
well as to the wealthy man the same amount of respect and attentive care.
The African faith promotes a deep rooted respect for nature and its
inhabitants. Large trees are elevated to the status of sacred trees (ex. the
baobab). Gratitude and respect for animals, and for what each of them can
teach us or help us with, is ingrained with the totem system: each clan has
an animal it honours and protects (i.e. ancient Egypt’s sacred animals,
Camara, 2004, p. 162-193).
Knowledge of the indigenous faith’s taboos and prohibitions, as well as
knowledge of all the other types of knowledge a society needs for a life of
harmony, good health and prosperity are imparted through initiation.
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12
1. 3. Initiation: A Traditional Teaching Technique
There is a basic knowledge that is available to all, and then there is the
more complex and specific knowledge that is given through initiation, the
indigenous method of imparting valuable knowledge.
1.3.1 Equal education along gender lines
Although matriarchal societies are not segregated societies, at some
point girls and boys undergo separate initiation rites. In the Seereer
communities Kumax yaay no juul presides over the training of men initiates,
and Jooj maad no gulook takes over the training of women. Men’s initiation
training is called ndut (meaning “bird’s nest” according to I. L. Thiaw), and
women’s initiation training is called ngulook, marriage ceremony (B. S. Diouf,
2004, 215 ; Faye, 2006, 110). This organization along gender lines existed at
all levels. In the pre-colonial Wolof and Seereer kingdoms for instance,
national coordination was ensured at the top by the lingeer (elected
queen/female head of state) for the women, and for the men, by the elected
king (called maad or buur in the Seereer kingdoms ; buurba, brak, dàmmeel
or teeñ in the Wolof kingdoms). Thus, from the base to the top, the gender
duality was acknowledged in a way that guaranteed both sexes equal rights
and opportunities. Indigenous African theology made sure to entrench the
gendered organisation of the society, and the pre-eminence of the female
element, in initiatory teachings.
1.3.2. The language of the Initiates: Insider’s Knowledge
Education based on the method of initiation uses the ambiguity of
words to deliver a multilayered message. Hence the first meaning will be
clear, simple, and immediately accessible. The second meaning will only be
accessible to those with specific background knowledge. The third meaning
will be so enshrouded in symbolism that only insiders will be able to get it.
The same word could therefore lead to different directions. The following
example explains how initiates fashioned sentences with double or triple
meaning:
« O loq O yaay füsu saax it »
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13
- Simple translation: literally, “the borders of the country are traced
using a branch of Yaay ” (shrub whose scientific name is
Combretum Glunosicum).
- Legal translation: “the country is governed by the rules of the maternal
lineage” Playing on the ambivalence of the term “yaay” (which also
means mother), it is declared simply that the matrilineal system
governs the country. (B. S. Diouf, 2004, p. 210)
- Esoteric translation: “Sorcery is transmitted by the mother”
Drums also conveyed coded messages. For instance, in the Seereer
kingdoms, a drummed message opening all public celebrations reminds all
that Siga Bajaan, a woman, was the first head of state12:
“Siga Bacal, ten eetu maat, maat a guutin a roof” “Siga wide hips13
has founded the state, the state improved after her.” (B. S. Diouf, March
07).
Given the fact that one sentence could carry more than one meaning,
it is interesting to note how the word “maat” in Seereer takes its full
meaning when one compares it with the meaning of the same word in
ancient Egyptian. In Seereer, maat means (state) power. In ancient Egypt,
Maât is the sacred power of Justice (Truth and Fairness), which is
symbolised by a female figure, the “Goddess” named Maât. The land of the
Pharaohs also attributed the origin of state power to a woman, the Great
Mother Isis, whose Egyptian name “AST” means “throne, seat, or abode (D.
Redd, 2002, 162). Isis is also credited for giving men the laws they need to
govern themselves in peace and fairness (Diodorus Siculus, 1st BC) 14.
A long standing Seereer tradition traces the origins of centralized political power to a
woman called Siga Bajaan (Bajaal or Bacal). Her legend is summarized in this popular
Seereer sentence: “Siga Bajaan fertu maat né” “Power started with Siga Bajaan”. (Gravrand,
1983, 267)
13 According to Babacar Sedikh Diouf, “Bacal” was not the queen’s surname but an alias
meaning “wide hips”, a criterium of beauty.
14 Diodorus Siculus gives the following testimony: “Moreover one says that Isis gave men the
first laws and taught them how to render justice for one another, and to ban violence among
them for fear of retribution.” Translated from the French version : « On dit de plus qu’Isis a
donné les premières lois aux hommes et leur a enseigné à se rendre justice les uns aux autres,
12
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14
Thus it appears that the drummed message about Siga Bajaan is more
than a simple reminder that there was once a queen bearing that name. The
drummed message recalls and summarizes the matriarchal roots of the
Seereer political system. The idea that women deserve respect because they
are the ones who organised the community and designed the concept of a
state based on Maât (Truth and Fairness) is quite literally drummed into
people’s minds. It is a known fact that in many African kingdoms the female
chief of state (usually, but not always, the queen mother) enjoyed a higher
respect and had more political power than the king. In the family circle also
the female elements (older sisters, mothers, first wives15) wielded more
authority than the male ones (Camara and Kandji, 2000).
It is all these rules, entrenched in the indigenous African spiritual
beliefs, that the project of a Temple for women initiates aims to promote.
Building a temple to the women initiates has therefore deep meaning at
various levels: symbolic, legal, practical.
II.
The objectives, stakes, and context of the construction of a Temple
for Women Initiates
The project of the Temple for Women Initiates (TWI) is an initiative of the
women of the village of Baback Sereres,
16
assisted by the researcher, Issa
Laye Thiaw, a native of the village. The project of the TWI aims at developing
the culture and the spiritual values of the Seereer’s native land. For the
project’s initiators, learning the moral values and spiritual knowledge that
has been bequeathed by the ancestors will help promote the emancipation of
Senegalese women. Besides, they have come to realise that ancestral
practices do not inspire the general population as they used to in the past. In
their eyes, that makes it necessary to create new infrastructures able to fulfil
et
à
bannir
d’entre
eux
la
violence
par
la
crainte
du
châtiment. »
http :remacle.org/bloodwolf/historiens/diodore/livre1.htm.
15 Contrary to popular belief polygamy was not as wide spread in pre-colonial Africa as it is
now. Before Islam democratised it, polygamy was limited to the chiefs who used matrimony
as a means to form political alliances. (in Senegal people have come to believe and convey
the idea that polygamy is not only a right given to men by Allah and The Holy Book, it is also
a duty for the good Muslim)
16 Baback Sereres is located in the region of Thiès. For a map of Senegal, see:
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/CIA_World_Fact_Book,_2004/Senegal.
The Temple for Women Initiates’ project –F. K. Camara
15
the requirements of modern times without forsaking indigenous rules and
values.
2. 1. The Symbolic Meaning: Promoting Respect for Animism
Churches and mosques, the spiritual strongholds of patriarchal
ideology, are visible all over the country, but there is not one brick and stone
edifice built to call attention to, and muster respect for, the matriarchal
religion of the land. Those that existed of old are now desecrated ruins that
hold the interest of only a limited number of scholars and archaeologists. It
is said that during colonial time, some of the holy places which were open
indigenous sanctuaries have been turned into Christian places of worship
(example: the “sanctuaire marial” of Popenguine). The same can be said
about cemeteries. With the exception of Ziguinchor (in Southern Senegal),
the cities that have been created, implanted or developed by the French,
during colonial time, do not have cemeteries reserved for the indigenous faith
followers. Land has been earmarked for Christian cemeteries and graveyards
for Muslims. This has forced many Africans to convert to one of these two
religions in order to have a decent burial at their death17. Cemeteries play an
important role in religious propaganda so do synagogues, mosques,
churches and temples, hence the importance of building a Temple for the
indigenous faith followers.
From a feminist point of view, it is equally important to note that
Indigenous faith rests principally on female spiritual leaders. Consequently,
seeing women in the role of spiritual leaders of their community will enhance
respect for them and for women in general. Up to this day, there is not one
female imam, or one female priest. Prayers in churches and mosques are led
by males, a fact that is not lost on those who are quick to deny women a
“In Dakar or elsewhere, in the cities, because there are only two cemeteries: a cemetery for
Muslims and a cemetery for Christians, the follower of traditional religion will be Christian
or Muslim. But once he/she is back in his/her hometown, he/she simply denies his/her
baptism and gets back, without much a do, to his/her traditional practices, giving up
Christianity or Islam.” (Diatta, 2005, 47). Translated from the French : “A Dakar ou ailleurs,
dans les villes, parce qu’il n’y a que deux cimetières ; un cimetière pour les musulmans et un
cimetière pour les chrétiens, l’adepte de la religion traditionnelle se fera chrétien ou musulman.
Mais une fois dans son milieu de vie, il renie tout bonnement son baptême et repart, sans état
d’âme, aux pratiques traditionnelles, abdiquant le christianisme ou la religion musulmane. »
17
The Temple for Women Initiates’ project –F. K. Camara
16
leadership role in public arena, and use that factor as proof that they are
unfit to lead a community where there is even one man.
2. 2. The Legal Side: Enforcing Respect for the underlining principles
of secularity
In Senegal, respect for all faiths is a constitutional principle18, but
nothing is being done to enforce respect for the indigenous faith.
Worse,
Muslim religion is openly used to justify legal discriminations against women
(Camara, 2007).
In his exposé justifying the building of a Temple for Women Initiates,
Issa Laye Thiaw points out the fact that currently most Africans are
converted to one of the expansionist religions but are neither entirely Muslim
nor Christian; their faith is a curious and contradictory hybrid. The Seereer
are a classic victim of this situation. Not only have they lost their ancestral
faith, but in so doing they have contracted an inferiority complex, which has
robbed them of the courage to face the apostles of the “revealed religions.”
However these imported religions have completely upset ancestral beliefs.
Furthermore, the methods employed to supplant African faith and the values
it carried were (and are still) intimidation, negation of, or contempt for, the
indigenous faith. The promise of Heaven and the threat of Hell are powerful
tools used to move converts away from their ancestral beliefs, which are
depicted as satanic practices. These facts have a negative impact on the
holders of the oral tradition who no longer dare to express openly the lessons
of old times. Building a temple for these holders of the oral tradition will give
them that courage.
The existence of the Convention on Cultural Diversity (CDD) represents
a new and important platform for promoting culture in the wider context of
The Constitution of Senegal proclaims the principles of philosophical and religious
freedom in its preamble. Article 1 of the Constitution specifies that the Republic of Senegal
is secular, democratic and that it respects all beliefs. Article 17 recognizes religious
institutions as a means of education, and subparagraph 2 of Article 19 lays out the
following: “Religious institutions and communities have the right to develop without
obstacles. They are released from the supervision of the State. They regulate and manage
their business in an autonomous way.”
18
The Temple for Women Initiates’ project –F. K. Camara
17
sustainable development19. However, the principles the CDD stands for need
to be acted upon in order to give them a meaning that goes beyond the moral
stance. The TWI project gives the CDD such a meaning.
2. 3. The Practical Aspects: A Cultural Research Centre
The temple is designed as a place of teaching and a forum for meetings
in a setting that will emphasize its cultural roots. Thus, the temple will be a
shelter for Seereer culture and oral knowledge. Crossing over its threshold
will literally mean taking a first step inside a very ancient culture.
Consequently the temple will be built in accordance with the typical design
of an original Seereer habitat. It will be composed of twenty-two (22) houses
and a large general-purpose unit that will be used as conference room. Each
house will bear the name of an original village. The people of each one of
these villages will be solicited to name a delegate to the philosophical college
that will be housed at the Temple. The goal of asking villages to name
delegates is to collect the esoteric teachings inherited from the ancestors.
That will enable the members of the philosophical college to store, in books,
films and recordings, the initiatory secrets of the villages and areas they
come from.
The temples of old were not only places of worship, they were also places
of healing and learning. Accordingly, the objective of the TWI will be to offer
the community a variety of services (conflict resolution, traditional therapy,
summer camp for children, training in traditional art), some of which will
have to be lucrative in order to make it possible for the temple to be selfsustaining.
CONCLUSION
For the initiators of the Temple for Women Initiates project, the first
challenge is to successfully lobby national authorities into assuming
responsibility on the matter by taking practical steps to ensure that African’s
The CDD was adopted on 20 October 2005 by the UNESCO General Conference (148
countries approved it, while two countries -the United States and Israel- voted against it and
four abstained). The Convention entered into force in March 2007, following its ratification
by a sufficient number of countries.
19
The Temple for Women Initiates’ project –F. K. Camara
18
specific cultural heritage holds its own in the face of the Middle-Eastern and
Western civilisations rival attempts to pose themselves as the unique
conveyors of a universal message. M. André Youm, the head of the village of
Baback Sérères has officially written to the President of the rural council
(Conseil rural) of Notto Diobass, a letter dated October 18, 2007, to inform
him of his decision to allot one hectare of land to the project. So the
Association of the women of Baback have the support of the village’s chief,
and the land on which to build the Temple. All they need now is the money
to build it20. The project has been sent to several government agencies and a
few non governmental organisations, but the best answers the initiators of
the project have received so far are messages of encouragement. However
perseverance being at the heart of all successful endeavours, the promoters
of the project are in the process of identifying ways to bring private donors,
as well as funding agencies to show a true interest in building a “pilot”
Temple for Women Initiates in the small, but meaningful - in terms of still
holding a large piece of Indigenous African culture, Senegalese village of
Baback Sereres.
REFERENCES
Al Assiouty, Sarwat Anis (1989). Origines égyptiennes du Christianisme
et de l’Islam, résultats d’un siècle et demi d’archéologie, Letouzey et
Ané (éd.), Paris, p. 239-240.
Camara, Fatou Kiné (2007). “Le Code de la Famille du Sénégal ou de
l’utilisation de la religion comme alibi à la légalisation de
l’inégalité de genre” Genre, inégalités et religion. Actes du premier
colloque inter-Réseaux du programme thématique Aspects de l’État
de
Droit
et
Démocratie,
Contemporaines
-
Paris,
AUF,
Éditions
2007,
des
Archives
459
pages
http://www.refer.sn/rds/article.php3?id_article=327
20
See the project’s budget in annexe 2.
The Temple for Women Initiates’ project –F. K. Camara
19
Camara, Fatou K. (2007). “Women and the Law - A Critique of the
Senegalese Family Law”, Social Identities Journal for the Study of
Race, Nation and Culture, Volume 13 Issue 6, November 2007,
787-800.
Camara, Fatou K. (2004). Pouvoir et Justice dans la tradition des peoples
noirs, L’Harmattan, Paris, 2004.
Camara, Fatou K., and Kandji, Saliou S. M. (2000). L’union matrimoniale
dans la tradition des peuples noirs, L’Harmattan, Paris, 2000.
Diodorus,
Siculus
(1st
BC).
Book
1,
section
1,
VIII
http :remacle.org/bloodwolf/historiens/diodore/livre1.htm.
Diop, Cheikh Anta (1996). Towards the African Renaissance, Essays in
African Culture and Development 1946-1960, Karnak house, 1996,
p. 130.
Diop, Cheikh Anta (1979). Nations nègres et culture, Présence Africaine,
Paris, 1979, pp. 392-401
Diouf, Babacar Sédikh (2007), « La dimension genre dans le vivre
ensemble africain » ; « Dualité de genre et traditions » unpublished
presentation at the « Journée d’étude d’une loi sur la parité »
(workshop on a law on gender parity) seminar organised by
COSEF (Conseil Sénégalais des Femmes), IDHP (Institut des
Droits de l’Homme et de la Paix – Université Cheikh Anta Diop de
Dakar),
CREDILA
(Centre
de
Recherche,
d’Etude
et
de
Documentation sur les Institutions et les Législations Africaines –
UCAD),
Laboratoire Genre de l’UCAD in partnership with
FRIEDRICH EBERT Foundation,
Diouf, Babacar Sédikh (2007), unpublished presentation « Egyptian
sources of African customary law : the Seereer example » at the
seminar on « Egyptian sources of African customary law” by Dr F.
K. Camara, in the History of Law Master, Faculté des Sciences
Juridiques
et
Politiques,
Université
Cheikh
Anta
Diop,
2006/2007.
Diouf, Babacar Sedikh (2004). « Le Sérere, paganisme polythéiste ou
religion monothéiste » in Pouvoir et Justice dans la tradition des
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peuples noirs, Fatou Kiné Camara, L’Harmattan, Paris, 2004, p.
210-211.
Diouf, Madior (2005), « La tolérance religieuse reflet de l’aspiration d’une
nation à la démocratie dans l’œuvre de Birago Diop » in La
tolérance religieuse, reflet de l’aspiration d’une nation à la
démocratie, Fondation Konrad Aneauer, Dakar 2005, pp. 10-15.
Faye, Louis Diène (2006). Education et mariage – Le monde seereer,
NEAS, les Nouvelles Editions Africaines du Sénégal – Dakar –
2006.
Gravrand, Henry (1983). La civilisation sereer – Cosaan, Les Nouvelles
Editions Africaines, Dakar, p.267.
Ki Zerbo, Joseph (2003). A quand l’Afrique? Entretien avec René
Holenstein, Paris éditions de l’Aube, poche essai 2003, p. 123.
Mutiso,
Gidbon
(1975).
« Rural
women
in
the
socio-political
transformations », The Civilization of the Woman in African
Tradition, Présence Africaine (ed.), p. 526-554.
Nachtman, Yann (2002). Reconciling countries through culture, African
environment n°41-42, vol. XI, 1-2, Enda, Dakar 2002, p. 89.
Obenga, Théophile (2004). African Philosophy – The Pharaonic Period :
2780-330 BC, Per Ankh (ed.), pp. 60-73.
Redd, Danita (2002). « Black Madonnas of Europe : diffusion of the
African Isis » in Black women in Antiquity, edited by Ivan Van
Sertima, Transaction Publishers, p. 162.
Société africaine de culture (1975). The Civilization of the Woman in
African Tradition, Meeting organized by the Society of African
Culture, Abidjan (Ivory Coast), July 3-8th, 1972, Présence
Africaine (ed.), p. 597.
Thiaw, Issa Laye (2005). La femme seereer, L’Harmattan, Paris.
Thiaw, Issa Laye (1992). « La religiosité des Seereer, avant et pendant
leur islamisation », Ethiopiques, Revue trimestrielle de culture
négro-africaine, Actes du Colloque des Journées Culturelles du
Sine, « La civilisation sérère d’hier à demain », Fatick, 10-12 mai
1991, pp. 59-86.
The Temple for Women Initiates’ project –F. K. Camara
21
Annexe 1
The letter of the Young people of the village of Baback Sérères:
The project called the Temple for Women Initiates falls under a particular
context. Threatened by modernization, the Seereer culture is one of the pillars
of African civilization, which today tends to disappear. At the current hour, the
need for revalorization of this culture, in particular in Jobaas, is posed with
acuity. The project is born out of this point of view. Its aim is to make tradition
known through the image of the Seereer woman.
Culture, which can be defined as the ways of doing things, the way of life, the
beliefs, in short the ways in which a group sees the world, occupies a major
place in the life of people. However the phenomena of Westernization combined
with attempts at islamization have caused the negation of the existence of
Black-African cultures. Without culture it is impossible to reach development.
This is an idea that has the support of many researchers, such as those who
have pondered the question of African unity, and also of humanitarians
interested in what guarantees wellbeing.
Thus to concretize or materialize this idea, various ethnic groups feel the need
to act. The values that characterize the Seereer culture, especially its
matriarchal side, are enough to give us the model of society we all wish for.
The pilot project (TWI) suggested by the AFI, the Association of the Women of
Joobas, relates to the importance of culture and its development. The study of
the project was the framework of a dialogue between Issa Laye Thiaw and a
restricted group of students. According to the participants, the realization of this
project could allow the rebirth of certain values and open up new life-style
opportunities to women as suggested by the reference document. The
participants proposed that dwellings be built to shelter the initiates. These
infrastructures could be implemented in each village centre. Knowing that
tradition requires a house with two doors, these new infrastructures can be
built according to this traditional model. For the success of this project,
The Temple for Women Initiates’ project –F. K. Camara
22
participants in the debate propose the adoption of a participatory step in the
phase of formulation and realization of the project, the women having to be
integrated into the decision-making processes and in the planning. The site of
the granaries and choosing the tree that would serve as palaver tree were
among the questions that were raised. According to certain points of view, the
orientation towards the east was favoured for the site of the granaries. The
latter were always placed in front of the houses. For certain questions such as
the ones about the palaver tree, or the appropriate site for the Temple, the
participants suggested the matter be investigated with old folks.
With regard to the implication of women, let us note that a process of
elimination of illiteracy will have to be set up for better conveying certain
messages. As to the place of men within the temple, the debate was focused
on two types of status. One is the “yimbir” whose role is to guard the women’s
privacy during the initiatory phases. The other is the “bidjo” who protects the
girls against intruders at the time of ceremonies such as the “minams”, the
“riiti”, etc
Sereer who have
jealously guarded culture are now the victims of a
phenomenon of alienation which is depriving posterity of its sources, and of its
reference marks.
In way of conclusion, the participants salute the initiative and declare their
readiness to take an active part in the project. For them, the realization of this
project could play a major role in promoting Seereer culture throughout the
world.
The youth of the village
Done at Baback, the 15 - 10 – 2007
The Temple for Women Initiates’ project –F. K. Camara
23
Annexe 2
BUDGET OF THE PROJET OF A TEMPLE FOR WOMEN INITIATES
BUDGETARY
Construction
of the Temple
BASIS OF
AMOUNT AMOUNT CHANGE
VALUE IN
ASSESSMENT IN US $ IN Euros
RATE
CFA
306 191 209 880 1 euro = 137 786 000
656, 5
CFA
41 014
28 178
1US$ =
18 456 600
450
FCFA
Production of
a 26-minute
film on the
Temple
Creation and
administration
of a website
Administration 10 pers.
Staff Training
35 000
FCFA/pers.
TOTAL
1 600
1 097
720 000
533
778
350 000
349 338
239 933
157 312
600
The Temple for Women Initiates’ project –F. K. Camara
24